I've been to Washington, DC, four times now. And so far, the fourth time is the best. It might be the one that changes my attitude about this city.
My first visit was part of a dance trip at the end of the 80s, when we came to perform in several places, including the national Fourth of July parade. It was hot and humid, and I saw a purse-snatcher use a big butcher knife to slice a handbag strap and run with it, in broad daylight. It didn't leave me with the best impression. The next two trips were less eventful; they just led to a feeling that DC is boring, touristy, and awful to drive in, and left me confused on what to call the place.*
On this trip, it's still touristy and awful to drive in, but hanging with locals has ensured that DC is definitely not boring. They showed me more of the urban neighborhood view of the place, which I dug. I arrived yesterday afternoon, but didn't make it into the city until early evening, due to the aforementioned shit driving conditions. Aris did his damnedest to get Twitter folks out to welcome me, but it wasn't all that successful. The only one awesome enough to show was Ruben, who we met at Local 16, after I walked many blocks in a torrential downpour. Despite having an umbrella, I still hadn't quite dried out 2 beers later when we walked down the road for Ethiopian food at Dukem.
I had never eaten Ethiopian before, but I'm an instant fan. Apparently it's big here, and do you want to get some Ethiopian food is essentially code for ya wanna go eat a big pile of meat? Yes. Yes, sir, I do.
After a couple more drinks at the famous gay hangout Nellie's Sports Bar, poor Aris ran out of steam and went home. Bless his heart, he fought through a terrible cold to go out and entertain me. Luckily Ruben was all too happy to take over guiding my booze tour, with one last stop at Mad Hatter.
Mad Hatter is a total meat market for Bros and Woo Girls, very much the Jersey Shore of DC. The sociologist in me was fascinated; my inner party girl was loving it. Ruben's only advice was pretend you're 22 again. Done. We drank, we danced, we set out to accomplish the random DFMO (Dance Floor Make Out), but ended up just hanging with each other the whole night instead. I'm sure it would have been possible, the moment Ruben took 2 steps away to grab us drinks, a dude hit on me. Ruben had talked to a group of ridic bachelorette party girls earlier, and when he left to walk me back to my hotel, they all turned and glared at me. The whole experience was fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.
But all the fun means that now I'm sleep deprived for my rainy DC Sunday, and I may not be able to really make the most of it. I always blow it out on the first night of trips like this and spend the rest suffering. Maybe someday I'll learn...
Nah.
*Aris eventually cleared this up for me, after getting very frustrated with my inability to call DC the right name on Twitter.
Sunday 22 April 2012
Monday 9 April 2012
Columbia City Theater: The Barr Brothers
I fell in love with The Barr Brothers almost instantly. Their self-titled debut album has a little bit of everything on it, mixing more genres and influences than I could possibly pick out, with ease and beauty. They embody everything I adore about music, so when I heard they were playing in Seattle, I immediately bought a ticket.
Unfortunately the venue was everything I hate about Seattle. The theater itself was small, gorgeous and had great sound; the bar attached to it was pretty much Hipster Hell. But I endured.
I endured the door guy saying "As far as I know, it still starts at 8," with the bar empty at 7:45.
I endured coming back 20 minutes later and having him say, "Uh, I think doors are at 8:30 or 9 now."
I endured a $6 beer served by a bartender with a dredlocked rat tail.
And I endured a few BINGO games in which I could have won "Really cool stuff like a PBR coozie."
When I finally got in the door, the show started off with a local combo called The Thoughts. They weren't bad, and I think they were chosen to open because, like The Barr Brothers, they have a mellow rock vibe and a harpist. However, the crowd wasn't totally won over. In the quieter moments, everyone could clearly hear conversations going on across the room. (No, really, even the singer looked over as a guy went "So ANYWAY, like I was saying..." mid-song). And I haven't seen a crowd stand so awkwardly far from the dance floor since my last 8th grade mixer. I enjoyed the songs, but I felt bad for them.
Eventually The Thoughts left the stage (cordial applause), and The Barr Brothers came out to set up. Yes, they set up their own gear. I may have been the only one in the room who knew what they looked like and noticed it, though, since they're not exactly MTV stars, and they do kind of resemble roadies.
The Barr Brothers -- who called themselves The Barr Brothers and Friends last night, Brad & Andrew Barr, Sarah Page, and Andres Vial -- kicked off with Beggar in the Morning, their single, and a fitting opener, thanks to the following verse:
It seems I’ve come a long long way
To sit before you here today
They’re yours and yours the songs I play
To take with you or throw away
They went on to play a few songs from the record, and a few more. I'm not really willing or able to do any sort of review; I just dug it. Their joy made me happy, because the band made it clear that they are just a bunch of music nerds who love what they do.
At the same time, they sounded amazing, and despite some audience participation of adding to the guitar sounds made with thread (and a request for a fan to grab both brothers Barr some Jamesons, neat, with their drink tickets) didn't really put on a show at all. They just played their hearts out, from folk to blues to Black Sabbath-esque rock, with a bit of everything else in between. The encore was mostly a game of dueling harp and guitar, which was actually funny, but oh! so nerdy. Just hearing them do their thing was what made it great; it was all about the music, what we all had in common.
So as much as I geeked out and adored the gig, I'm not sure The Barr Brothers would ever really translate to be arena rock stars. I can't imagine them playing on a big television event. And I bet they're okay with that, because they don't seem like they'd feel comfortable there anyway. I just hope they are successful enough to keep doing their thing, and get some appreciation for how good they are.
Because they are really REALLY good.
Unfortunately the venue was everything I hate about Seattle. The theater itself was small, gorgeous and had great sound; the bar attached to it was pretty much Hipster Hell. But I endured.
I endured the door guy saying "As far as I know, it still starts at 8," with the bar empty at 7:45.
I endured coming back 20 minutes later and having him say, "Uh, I think doors are at 8:30 or 9 now."
I endured a $6 beer served by a bartender with a dredlocked rat tail.
And I endured a few BINGO games in which I could have won "Really cool stuff like a PBR coozie."
When I finally got in the door, the show started off with a local combo called The Thoughts. They weren't bad, and I think they were chosen to open because, like The Barr Brothers, they have a mellow rock vibe and a harpist. However, the crowd wasn't totally won over. In the quieter moments, everyone could clearly hear conversations going on across the room. (No, really, even the singer looked over as a guy went "So ANYWAY, like I was saying..." mid-song). And I haven't seen a crowd stand so awkwardly far from the dance floor since my last 8th grade mixer. I enjoyed the songs, but I felt bad for them.
Eventually The Thoughts left the stage (cordial applause), and The Barr Brothers came out to set up. Yes, they set up their own gear. I may have been the only one in the room who knew what they looked like and noticed it, though, since they're not exactly MTV stars, and they do kind of resemble roadies.
It seems I’ve come a long long way
To sit before you here today
They’re yours and yours the songs I play
To take with you or throw away
They went on to play a few songs from the record, and a few more. I'm not really willing or able to do any sort of review; I just dug it. Their joy made me happy, because the band made it clear that they are just a bunch of music nerds who love what they do.
At the same time, they sounded amazing, and despite some audience participation of adding to the guitar sounds made with thread (and a request for a fan to grab both brothers Barr some Jamesons, neat, with their drink tickets) didn't really put on a show at all. They just played their hearts out, from folk to blues to Black Sabbath-esque rock, with a bit of everything else in between. The encore was mostly a game of dueling harp and guitar, which was actually funny, but oh! so nerdy. Just hearing them do their thing was what made it great; it was all about the music, what we all had in common.So as much as I geeked out and adored the gig, I'm not sure The Barr Brothers would ever really translate to be arena rock stars. I can't imagine them playing on a big television event. And I bet they're okay with that, because they don't seem like they'd feel comfortable there anyway. I just hope they are successful enough to keep doing their thing, and get some appreciation for how good they are.
Because they are really REALLY good.
Wednesday 4 April 2012
CBC Studio 40: George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight
I just finished watching last night's George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight. It was the second time I'd seen the show, though; the first time was live yesterday afternoon.
When I heard George was coming to film in Vancouver again -- he's usually in Toronto -- I immediately checked my calendar to see if I could take the day off work. Because my time was clear, I put in for the tickets right away, and got my confirmation within a couple of hours. And was thrilled! Because if I'm honest, I love TV more than anyone should, and George Tonight is probably my favourite* show on my favourite station, CBC. Steve also enjoys the show, so he was nice enough to accompany my nerdy ass on the trip.
In the middle of the taping, George mentioned we were running a couple of minutes long, so it was interesting to see what got cut when it aired. Also, during the first interview, we could hear George fine in the studio, but Jim Treliving was barely audible. That translated to Jim sounding fine on TV while Strombo seemed to be in a cave. That was fixed, though, and we had no sound issues for the rest of the program, in person or on the broadcast.
As excellent as George was, however, I went ABSOLUTELY geek-a-tronic about being at the CBC. I watch anywhere from 10-20 hours of CBC every week, just CBC, among all other television. I was gutted at the announcement of cuts to Canada's national broadcaster in the new budget, and went into shock when I read that they applied to put ads on Radio 2. I love the CBC in an irrational way, and that includes Radio-Canada's programming en francais... if only I could get it here.
Anyway. Having seen him live, I came away with 3 thoughts on our boyfriend George:
Yes, I'm a big fan, and I'm really glad I went to the show. But to me, celebrities are still people, as full of shit as everyone. I don't like George because he's famous, I like him because I enjoy his work. By showing up, I supported that work and showed my appreciation for it. Standing in the line-up to take a photo next to him is just awkward. It's not something I'd ever do. At the same time, were I sitting next to the man at a bar, I'd chat with him like I do anyone, probably mentioning that I like what he does in the process, but that makes sense to me. Standing in a queue for a random handshake and a hello means nothing to me; I don't get it.
Weirdly, I didn't consciously realise that I thought this way until I was standing there looking at the Meet & Greet, but it's the same approach I have to Twitter. I talk to strangers (some celebrities) who I follow because I have something to say in the conversation, not because I want attention from the super famous. Although I do sometimes get starstruck if I like their work too much, and have a completely irrational fangirl reaction if they reply to me (eg the DM from Paul Feig).
Well.
I'm off track.
To sum up, the show was incredible, George is a phenomenon, and I love the CBC waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much.
And I still wanted to stay in Canada forever, but that's a whole other thing....
*The last 2 days got me super Canadian (think that HIMYM episode where Robin plays hockey in the living room), so I will use the proper Canuck spellings for the time being.
When I heard George was coming to film in Vancouver again -- he's usually in Toronto -- I immediately checked my calendar to see if I could take the day off work. Because my time was clear, I put in for the tickets right away, and got my confirmation within a couple of hours. And was thrilled! Because if I'm honest, I love TV more than anyone should, and George Tonight is probably my favourite* show on my favourite station, CBC. Steve also enjoys the show, so he was nice enough to accompany my nerdy ass on the trip.
As excellent as George was, however, I went ABSOLUTELY geek-a-tronic about being at the CBC. I watch anywhere from 10-20 hours of CBC every week, just CBC, among all other television. I was gutted at the announcement of cuts to Canada's national broadcaster in the new budget, and went into shock when I read that they applied to put ads on Radio 2. I love the CBC in an irrational way, and that includes Radio-Canada's programming en francais... if only I could get it here.
Anyway. Having seen him live, I came away with 3 thoughts on our boyfriend George:
- I really want to feed him cupcakes. They can be vegan cupcakes, fine, but he's way too thin right now. I forgot that everyone is actually skinnier than they appear on television, so it was a bit of a shock.
- He's even more alluring in person. He somehow manages to be better looking when not seen through a camera, and has exponentially more charisma. I didn't think it was possible!
- I vote that he's taken over as the Hardest Working Man in Show Business. In addition to producing a fantastic hour of television, he worked the crowd during the breaks, and spent who knows how long talking to all the fans afterward. And the George Tonight show is only one of his many jobs!
Yes, I'm a big fan, and I'm really glad I went to the show. But to me, celebrities are still people, as full of shit as everyone. I don't like George because he's famous, I like him because I enjoy his work. By showing up, I supported that work and showed my appreciation for it. Standing in the line-up to take a photo next to him is just awkward. It's not something I'd ever do. At the same time, were I sitting next to the man at a bar, I'd chat with him like I do anyone, probably mentioning that I like what he does in the process, but that makes sense to me. Standing in a queue for a random handshake and a hello means nothing to me; I don't get it.
Weirdly, I didn't consciously realise that I thought this way until I was standing there looking at the Meet & Greet, but it's the same approach I have to Twitter. I talk to strangers (some celebrities) who I follow because I have something to say in the conversation, not because I want attention from the super famous. Although I do sometimes get starstruck if I like their work too much, and have a completely irrational fangirl reaction if they reply to me (eg the DM from Paul Feig).
Well.
I'm off track.
To sum up, the show was incredible, George is a phenomenon, and I love the CBC waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much.
And I still wanted to stay in Canada forever, but that's a whole other thing....
*The last 2 days got me super Canadian (think that HIMYM episode where Robin plays hockey in the living room), so I will use the proper Canuck spellings for the time being.
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