(no subject)
Sep. 25th, 2010 10:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
switchbladesisI don't even know what happened to today. It was just 11 am a few minutes ago. . . Am still sick. Have surpassed the cat in laziness. Am ready to be well again.
Janelle Monae and of Montreal at First Ave 9/23/10
So yes-I was running a high fever earlier in the day and was still kind of out of it by the time the concert rolled around that night. Still, that can’t explain everything I saw that night. Though if you hear about the Great Hipster Plague of 2010, I was probably patient zero. Sorry!
The concert was sold out, and there was definitely some light cosplaying going on-people showed up in formalwear or pompadours, and at least one person showed up dressed like the lead singer of Of Montreal (which is pretty impressive, considering that he tends to dress like an American Apparel ad, when he bothers to wear anything). Everyone was invested in having a good time before anything even started. Right before the concert started, a backup dancer came on stage, he has us all shout out our names, introduce ourselves to those around us, and told us to put away our cell phones and dance. And so we did.
Janelle started off with the Dance or Die/Faster/Locked Inside medley all at once-no fucking around, no banter, not a second pause between the songs-it was just on. And the energy stayed high through the entire set, people were screaming, moving, focused through all of the songs-not just cold war and tightrope (and she was SO ADORABLE while doing the sideways moonwalk), even the ones that I didn’t recognize. It was a complete performance, and she owned the room.
And that was the opening act.
As for Of Montreal, well, during the first song, koi-headed cyborgs wearing gas masks gunned down pyjama-clad children (well, probably midgets) wearing giant skull masks while Kevin Barnes pranced around in tight purple leggings and a white tutu-apron. Later, dancers with paper mache pig heads alternated between fighting with each other and simulating anal sex while being menaced by dancers in fire masks. The band was replaced by a giant TV showing a test pattern that the pyjama skullheads watched diligently, giving time for the Kevin Barnes to change into red leggings and an oversized cravat-and only that. Girls in gold lame bikinis gave swords to men in black body stockings who menaced Kevin Barnes and Janelle Monae (she came back out for a song) while angels danced around in the background. A rainbow-colored caterpillar dragon made up of men in red luchador masks carried the lead singer around, before setting him down on the stage in front of the microphone. The gold lame bikini girls presented him with a wing cape, and they all twirled around, hiding behind their giant cape-wings.
And for the encore, everyone (including the entire Janelle Monae entourage) came out and sang and danced to Michael Jackson covers.
At this point, I think I should mention that First Avenue isn’t exactly a large venue. It’s maybe got a 1,500 person capacity (about the size of the Metro in Chicago for those more familiar with that), and the stage is tiny. One of the most impressive things about this is that they managed to stuff the entire eight person band, instruments, backup dancers, and set pieces all on the same stage without any issues.
Also, this is an all-ages show. It is the first all ages show I’ve ever attended with simulated pig sex on stage. It certainly didn’t happen at They Might Be Giants.
I think it might be the fact that it was an all-ages show, but it was also more constrained than usual. There were fewer costume changes, fewer giant set pieces, no simulated on-stage suicide. It was definitely a different, happier, vibe. Of Montreal concerts always seemed more manic than anything else-hedonism without joy, hedonism because there was no other conceivable choice but to make it a spectacle. This, even with all of the sex and violence on stage, seemed a lot more balanced.
Still the same awesome dance-pop, though!
Anyway, it was an amazing experience, and I’m glad that I managed to catch it-illness and all.
Also! There were rumors that Prince was there in the box (First Ave apparently has one?), and I did see a short skinny well-dressed man with dark hair followed by security, so I’m counting that as my first Prince sighting in Minneapolis.
Ex Machina, Ex Cathedra
Uh, so much for trying to pace myself. I blame the worst workweek ever.
1. I think that's the first time I've seen a Cooper Union reference in a comic book. Or, you know, anywhere. Also, undergrads doing Santeria for youtube is my favorite Great Machine flashback so far.
2. The random shot of Kremlin painting a still life of flowers made my day.
3. The art seemed really. . . off at moments-especially during the Gracie Mansion scene and a couple of Wylie's panels. It can be really obvious when they're using a reference picture or not, but even the general shape of the characters seemed off.
4. That being said, I really love the Empire State God in the hallucination-it's perfect for Hundred. As much as he'd claim not to believe in an old, bearded sky-man, you know he's the sort that wouldn't base it off anything else-and of course, it's made out of NYC architecture.
Supernatural, Exile on Main Street.
So my rule for keeping my sanity this season is this: No Expectations whatsoever. No speculation, no thinking about all the ways that this storyline is going to be awesome or horrible, not complaining about character assassinations until it airs. If I catch spoilery pictures, I will assume that fram, and only that frame, will be in some episode at some point. Even then, it might only be a flash during a hallucination viewable in the Impala's rear view mirror.
Except for this: You know how this year's title card is shattering glass? Well. . . where have you seen glass shatter in the promos? That's right, Cas falling out a window.
Therefore, Cas falling out a window will be the most important scene in the entire season-even the series. Maybe the entire season is taking place while Cas is falling out of a window in heaven-inception style, whatever else is happening this season is just everyone's consciousness compensating for whatever air current or glass shard is bothering Cas at that nanosecond.
This is the only possibility. All other arguments are invalid.
Anyway, on to the episode.
I think part of the reason it seemed so odd was because of the way it was shot-everything seemed so exaggerated, the sound cues were over the top, and there was a moment where I swear that they were doing the surprised!squirrel with Dean on purpose. They're usually not that bad, are they? It was just. . . odd.
And yes, the Campbells were odd, and Sam was odd, and everybody thinks that they need to make decisions for Dean. It's creepy, but I don't hate it. I'm not even angry at Sam, I just want to give him a referral to a good therapist. It's obvious he's been through a lot, going to Hell and all, and has been dependent on a dysfunctional group ever since he came back. He's inherited some of their bad coping behaviors, yes-but he realizes this! That's the first step! All he needs is a little reflection, some talk therapy, maybe some worksheets-I'm sure he'll be fine.
Or maybe he's still possessed by Lucifer.
Again, the Campbell's are incestuous and creepy, but I like creepy, so I'm ok. I think I would have liked them better if they were just random hunters, though-with them being family, I'm stuck wondering why nobody bothered to try and find them before.
I'm ok with Lisa and Ben so far-though Ben didn't really have a personality this episode. Not all that happy with the 'Best year of my life' line-'this year's had some of the best moments of my life' would have worked so much better, but she's not dead yet-so it's better than it could be.
Janelle Monae and of Montreal at First Ave 9/23/10
So yes-I was running a high fever earlier in the day and was still kind of out of it by the time the concert rolled around that night. Still, that can’t explain everything I saw that night. Though if you hear about the Great Hipster Plague of 2010, I was probably patient zero. Sorry!
The concert was sold out, and there was definitely some light cosplaying going on-people showed up in formalwear or pompadours, and at least one person showed up dressed like the lead singer of Of Montreal (which is pretty impressive, considering that he tends to dress like an American Apparel ad, when he bothers to wear anything). Everyone was invested in having a good time before anything even started. Right before the concert started, a backup dancer came on stage, he has us all shout out our names, introduce ourselves to those around us, and told us to put away our cell phones and dance. And so we did.
Janelle started off with the Dance or Die/Faster/Locked Inside medley all at once-no fucking around, no banter, not a second pause between the songs-it was just on. And the energy stayed high through the entire set, people were screaming, moving, focused through all of the songs-not just cold war and tightrope (and she was SO ADORABLE while doing the sideways moonwalk), even the ones that I didn’t recognize. It was a complete performance, and she owned the room.
And that was the opening act.
As for Of Montreal, well, during the first song, koi-headed cyborgs wearing gas masks gunned down pyjama-clad children (well, probably midgets) wearing giant skull masks while Kevin Barnes pranced around in tight purple leggings and a white tutu-apron. Later, dancers with paper mache pig heads alternated between fighting with each other and simulating anal sex while being menaced by dancers in fire masks. The band was replaced by a giant TV showing a test pattern that the pyjama skullheads watched diligently, giving time for the Kevin Barnes to change into red leggings and an oversized cravat-and only that. Girls in gold lame bikinis gave swords to men in black body stockings who menaced Kevin Barnes and Janelle Monae (she came back out for a song) while angels danced around in the background. A rainbow-colored caterpillar dragon made up of men in red luchador masks carried the lead singer around, before setting him down on the stage in front of the microphone. The gold lame bikini girls presented him with a wing cape, and they all twirled around, hiding behind their giant cape-wings.
And for the encore, everyone (including the entire Janelle Monae entourage) came out and sang and danced to Michael Jackson covers.
At this point, I think I should mention that First Avenue isn’t exactly a large venue. It’s maybe got a 1,500 person capacity (about the size of the Metro in Chicago for those more familiar with that), and the stage is tiny. One of the most impressive things about this is that they managed to stuff the entire eight person band, instruments, backup dancers, and set pieces all on the same stage without any issues.
Also, this is an all-ages show. It is the first all ages show I’ve ever attended with simulated pig sex on stage. It certainly didn’t happen at They Might Be Giants.
I think it might be the fact that it was an all-ages show, but it was also more constrained than usual. There were fewer costume changes, fewer giant set pieces, no simulated on-stage suicide. It was definitely a different, happier, vibe. Of Montreal concerts always seemed more manic than anything else-hedonism without joy, hedonism because there was no other conceivable choice but to make it a spectacle. This, even with all of the sex and violence on stage, seemed a lot more balanced.
Still the same awesome dance-pop, though!
Anyway, it was an amazing experience, and I’m glad that I managed to catch it-illness and all.
Also! There were rumors that Prince was there in the box (First Ave apparently has one?), and I did see a short skinny well-dressed man with dark hair followed by security, so I’m counting that as my first Prince sighting in Minneapolis.
Ex Machina, Ex Cathedra
Uh, so much for trying to pace myself. I blame the worst workweek ever.
1. I think that's the first time I've seen a Cooper Union reference in a comic book. Or, you know, anywhere. Also, undergrads doing Santeria for youtube is my favorite Great Machine flashback so far.
2. The random shot of Kremlin painting a still life of flowers made my day.
3. The art seemed really. . . off at moments-especially during the Gracie Mansion scene and a couple of Wylie's panels. It can be really obvious when they're using a reference picture or not, but even the general shape of the characters seemed off.
4. That being said, I really love the Empire State God in the hallucination-it's perfect for Hundred. As much as he'd claim not to believe in an old, bearded sky-man, you know he's the sort that wouldn't base it off anything else-and of course, it's made out of NYC architecture.
Supernatural, Exile on Main Street.
So my rule for keeping my sanity this season is this: No Expectations whatsoever. No speculation, no thinking about all the ways that this storyline is going to be awesome or horrible, not complaining about character assassinations until it airs. If I catch spoilery pictures, I will assume that fram, and only that frame, will be in some episode at some point. Even then, it might only be a flash during a hallucination viewable in the Impala's rear view mirror.
Except for this: You know how this year's title card is shattering glass? Well. . . where have you seen glass shatter in the promos? That's right, Cas falling out a window.
Therefore, Cas falling out a window will be the most important scene in the entire season-even the series. Maybe the entire season is taking place while Cas is falling out of a window in heaven-inception style, whatever else is happening this season is just everyone's consciousness compensating for whatever air current or glass shard is bothering Cas at that nanosecond.
This is the only possibility. All other arguments are invalid.
Anyway, on to the episode.
I think part of the reason it seemed so odd was because of the way it was shot-everything seemed so exaggerated, the sound cues were over the top, and there was a moment where I swear that they were doing the surprised!squirrel with Dean on purpose. They're usually not that bad, are they? It was just. . . odd.
And yes, the Campbells were odd, and Sam was odd, and everybody thinks that they need to make decisions for Dean. It's creepy, but I don't hate it. I'm not even angry at Sam, I just want to give him a referral to a good therapist. It's obvious he's been through a lot, going to Hell and all, and has been dependent on a dysfunctional group ever since he came back. He's inherited some of their bad coping behaviors, yes-but he realizes this! That's the first step! All he needs is a little reflection, some talk therapy, maybe some worksheets-I'm sure he'll be fine.
Or maybe he's still possessed by Lucifer.
Again, the Campbell's are incestuous and creepy, but I like creepy, so I'm ok. I think I would have liked them better if they were just random hunters, though-with them being family, I'm stuck wondering why nobody bothered to try and find them before.
I'm ok with Lisa and Ben so far-though Ben didn't really have a personality this episode. Not all that happy with the 'Best year of my life' line-'this year's had some of the best moments of my life' would have worked so much better, but she's not dead yet-so it's better than it could be.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
on 2010-09-26 05:39 am (UTC)But seriously, I like your "no expectations" deal. I'll take that stance, too. Wonder how long it'll take us.
no subject
on 2010-09-26 07:51 pm (UTC)But yeah-my big problem with Supernatural is they'll do something awesome, or have a great idea-and then fall flat with the execution. So I spend so much time being disappointed that it's hard to tell if what I did get was any good.
no subject
on 2010-09-26 06:17 am (UTC)no subject
on 2010-09-26 12:37 pm (UTC){BTW, did you ever get my PM? LJ hasn't been very good with notifications to me}
{/nudges gently towards DW, JUST IN CASE}
|Meduza|
no subject
on 2010-09-26 08:40 pm (UTC)It's always good to hear-I always figure that everybody's like 'ok, that first part was interesting, but why's she babbling on about (otherrandomthing)now?'
Totally recommend going to see Janelle Monae live if you ever get the chance-it was seriously worth it.
And yeah, inception is kind of an intimidating fandom-the movie was so grounded in concepts and visuals, and it's difficult to figure out if you got them right on the page.
That being said-I'd love to read a fic where Hell just a limbo imposed on the person-whoever is fighting to get out has to go through various demon dream-levels.
no subject
on 2010-09-26 12:14 pm (UTC)Dude. I didn't think the show could be even more incestuous than it already was. Whut.
{Feel better. Don't lose your voice.}
|Meduza|
no subject
on 2010-09-26 08:43 pm (UTC)Oh Supernatural, you always manage to bring the incest.
Have already lost my voice once this cold (which made doing phonework on Friday fun-I kept on being like 'uh, can't you guys just email me? And nobody else seemed to think that was a good idea).
no subject
on 2010-09-26 08:46 pm (UTC)SPN is good at incest. /snickers
It is also utterly addictive. /flails
|Meduza|
no subject
on 2010-09-26 03:20 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2010-09-26 08:44 pm (UTC)