The Faint - In The Venue - July 30 2008

You've read my gushing about The Faint on this blog before and when I found out they were playing here there was no question, I had to see them.

When I arrived at In The Venue (or Club Sound or whatever else they call it) I was greeted with the largest line I've seen there thus far. It wrapped around the side of the club and then folded in on itself back to the front of the club again. I wondered how they could possibly fit that many people inside but they did and then some.

When purchasing my tickets I discovered the name of the opening band, a local group called the Cavedoll. I followed the link to their Myspace page and was pleasantly surprised by their offerings there. A local band that actually fell somewhere in my range of musical taste for once.


I wasn't prepared for what outstanding live performers they would be. You've seen the stereotypical synthpop or electro band that stands there twitching while banging on their keyboards, and you almost feel slightly embarrased for them. Not these guys, they easily outshined the other opening act from New York in my opinion. The lead singer was Gwen Stefani-esque in her cavorting about the stage and kept the crowd's interest and kept me smiling with her antics. The rest of the band were having as great a time and their set was a blast to watch.



The second group, Shy Child, had an interesting sound and I liked a couple of their songs. It was just two guys, a drummer and the vocalist on a keytar. It could've been that they started the show late but their set seemed to drag while I was waiting for the band I paid to see. They may be worth a second listen based on some the of the songs I enjoyed.

Finally The Faint take the stage, the lead singer Todd Fink in a mad scientist getup, and they jump right into Agenda Suicide and the place goes nuts. Apparently they have quite the following here and have played in the past. We Utahns love our synth/electro/pop.


The Faint is definitely not just a studio band, they sounded amazing live and I would've been content to hear them play every last song in their discography. The way they play with bass riffs, synth loops and switch things up mid-song, they were just amazing. They played quite a few songs off their new album, Fasciination, and it's a must buy for me.



They ended with Glass Danse and there wasn't a single person in the place sitting still. Salt Lake is definitely a Faint town and they assured us they can't wait to come back in the future.

Going To See A Man About An Erection

Just a quickie today, I'm going to be gone during my prime blogging hours to see The Faint at In The Venue/Club Sound/Used-To-Be-Bricks. See previous entries using the tags below to understand the title of this post. There will be a review of the show tomorrow.

Oh, uh oh, erection.

Forgive Me My Sins This Day

I must beg you, especially the geekiest of you my readers, for forgiveness. I lived in ignorance for so long and maybe even slight condescension.

I avoided the Buffy TV series because I thought it looked cheesy. I feel a deep abiding pain in my soul to write those words now after the heartfelt conversion I've experienced.

I'm one of the few people that loved Loved LOVED the Buffy movie. Kristy Swanson is hot, David Arquette and Paul Reubens are hilarious, and Donald Southerland is hardcore as a crusty old watcher. Funny I would call the TV series cheesy after admitting I like the movie.


But there was this series, Firefly, that lived for only a brief flash on that fuckhole network Fox. I'm still bitter about it's cancellation. This is the show that opened my eyes to the brilliance that is Joss Whedon. I can't NOT laugh at that man's dialog, not that you would even want to... not... laugh.

Beyond the dialog are the characters, god the characters. These people live, you want to be invited to their house to play poker and drink and laugh with them, they're so alive. And Joss breaks your heart by killing one of them off, and you curse him, and then he pulls off some twist of brilliance that totally redeems him along with your faith in humanity.



So now I watch Buffy with Red every Tuesday and I laugh often and cry sometimes at the stories this man can tell.


Joss Whedon IS my master now.

AITP: Alphonse Mucha

It's about time I put up a new Artist-of-Indeterminate-Time-Period.

In the house I grew up in my bathroom had this wallpaper that were miniature reproductions of French advertisements. Besides unsuccessfully trying to read and pronounce the words I also enjoyed some of the artwork, one artist in particular though I didn't know his name at the time.


Alphonse Mucha IS Art Nouveau to me, he defines that style, a style I absolutely love. (Note to self: Make own Art Nouveau piece) The thick outlines, the intricate detail work in the often symmetrical borders, the painterly figures.


When Red and I went to see Enchanted in the theater I was almost giddy at the opening animated bits. Disney did a wonderful job bringing that style into the animation, especially in Jiselle's window and in some framing of the evil queen.

So there you are then, Mucha, Artist-Of-The-Indeterminate-Time-Period.

Still Sunday for 15 Minutes

I didn't have much in mind for my second post but, dammit, I'm going to post one.

I've had quite the varied and activity-filled weekend. Friday I gave Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition a spin with my regular gaming group and we had much more fun than I was expecting. It almost feels like playing WoW in tabletop form, only more freeform. I'm actually looking forward to a second session.

And speaking of WoW, I gained two levels (I'm 66 now) on my Draenei priest on Scarlet Crusade. I thought I might start getting burned out but I'm having more fun than ever. I'm getting better and better healing gear and just having a blast running instances.

I went to a farewell party on Saturday night for a co-worker that's moving to Indiana. I got nice and sloshed, more than I've been in a while, and we ended up at one of their friend's bar. Great times and I didn't even have much of a hangover this morning.

All in all it was what I would consider a very weekend-ish weekend. The only thing missing was the girl I'm dating but she was up enjoying herself at a family reunion.

More Ancient Art

Since I'm somewhat of a loser by not posting yesterday I'll make it up by posting two entries today.

The first is another one of my 7-year-old-Jer drawings. Watching Condorman is an exercise in embarrassment now but I remember absolutely loving it as a child. Who doesn't want giant unfoldable wings to glide off the tops of buildings?

A Litte Anti-Climactic

From the date on the letter you can see I received this a while back. The most feeling I could muster when getting it was, "Finally!" My life is pretty much the same before and after losing all my heavenly blessings and ordinances. In fact I've started to come out of a rut since then so you could almost say things are looking up.

The only other thing of note is that they didn't include my daughters names and I want written proof that they've been removed. Yay, another round of letters.

Like An Addict Getting Their Fix

I'm back online!

As promised here's the work of a 7-year-old Jer.

Schrodinger's Caturday

This blog needs moar pictures so I'm going there. Caturday.



more cat pictures

Starting Somewhere

So I answered the last question from my blog by sketching a page before bed last night. I'm going to draw at least a page a day. It was really rough and almost painful to look at but I figure the solution to bad drawing is more drawing.

I'm also determined to alternate nights between playing WoW and working on a creative project, whether it be a webcomic, a graphic novel with a friend, or a Neverwinter Nights campaign. I'm afraid if I try to squeeze both in a night I'll just default to playing and never get anything done. With my mentality if I schedule something there's greater chance I'll accomplish it.

I'm also going to map a route in the neighborhoods around my place and start running again. I miss the energy, endorphins, and general clarity I seemed to gain from exercise. I seem to have better mental health when I'm in better physical health. Stupid science.

It's like your parents nagging you about something as a child and growing up to realize they were right when you're an adult.

Looking for Drive

Over the weekend I was unpacking from my recent move (my roommate is getting married and wants his house to himself, the NERVE!), digging in old boxes that have traveled with me since moving out of the house Christy and I shared.

In one particular box I found a bunch of my old artwork, going as far back as superhero drawings from when I was 7. (Wait until I scan and post these later this week when I get internet at home. It seems like my daughters haven't fallen far from the tree)

It even had some work I created a few years back when I was in one of my creative bursts. As typically happens when I run across some of my old drawings I stopped and realized, "You know, I'm actually pretty good at this. With some work I could really make something of this."

What typically follows is I file them away and get sucked back into life again.

You know how it is. You get home from work and you're burned out, you want to relax in front of the TV or level a character in WoW, or read a book. You don't want to put creativity and effort and energy into anything. It's exhausting just thinking, let alone doing.

This is where the separation happens between those who get what they want in life and those who settle with what is given them. You can be happy and comfortable working for the man, no doubt. I know people who find a groove in life doing something they may not love but it pays the bills and they can buy a home, a car, take vacations, and live happily. Hell, I was (and still may be) that guy.

But there's this nagging part of me that wants more, wants to get better, wants to create and wants people to see those creations. So far that part has lost out to the seemingly immovable mass of my past habits. Objects at rest tend to stay at rest. At times it seems insurmountable.

But I keep trying to find purchase in this massive wall keeping me from what I want. Some small habit I can form, some small niche to pry my way into the way I want to live, the person I want to be. I forget the motivational book I read the example but you have to start the flywheel spinning, do something to get it moving and then keep it going, day after day. Change habits, find your way out of the groove you've worn for yourself, remap neural pathways in your mind and get a new Pavlovian response going.

So where do I start?

The Dark Knight

Go see it. Just do it. Believe the hype.

Working on dedication and consistency

So here's the deal.

I'm the master of making excuses, of dropping projects, of ignoring my blog for extended periods of time.

No more I say, no more.

My plan is this. As long as I have an internet connection (I make this caveat as I don't have the internet set up at my new place yet) I will (not try, not attempt, WILL) post every day. It may not be a dissertation on the human condition or an artistic masterpiece, it might even be a single line or a single word but, FSM save me, I will post something every day.

Most often it will be along the lines of what I'm doing today, linking to interesting stories or sites I find in my daily web travails.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog


This week Joss Whedon (of Buffy and Firefly fame) began posting the acts for this small project he worked on during the Hollywood writers strike. It stars Neil Patrick Harris as the titular supervillain who is attempting to get into the Evil League of Evil with Nathan Fillion as Captain Hammer, his nemesis, and Felicia Day as Penny, his pined-for love-interest.

Even if you don't typically like superhero fare you should still watch it for the dialog and hilarious and well-done songs.

The Naked Troll Project


On the nerdier side of things I found a blog detailing the exploits of someone's adventures in World of Warcraft. What made it interesting was he decided that to make the game interesting he was going to level his character from 1 to 60 without wearing armor. He initially wore gloves and boots but eventually eschewed even that small protection.