sophiaserpentia (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sophiaserpentia) wrote2008-12-15 02:08 pm
sophiaserpentia) wrote2008-12-15 02:08 pm
Entry tags:
birthday happenings
Thank you to everyone who wished me happy birthday. I had a great weekend.
I took Friday off, as a bit of a gift to myself -- and i actually went out (*gasp*!) I learned Thursday afternoon that Blue Oyster Cult would be playing in the area Friday night, and they have been one of my favorite bands forever. (So, an excuse to use my BOC icon.) Tickets were cheap, so i didn't wrestle with myself long over this decision.
They put on a great show. To be honest i am not, in general, a fan of "heavy metal virtuoso" music. I do enjoy hearing the work of skilled and talented guitarists of course, but to understand my opinion of overblown heavy metal guitar solos, picture Jeffrey Jones as the Austrian Emperor in the movie "Amadeus" telling Mozart that his compositions have "too many notes." They just seem... imbalanced and disconnected somehow. Part of me can't move along with the guitarist from the riff to the screaming thousand-notes-a-second solo. Which is really where my appreciation for Buck Dharma takes off, because his genius as a guitar virtuoso is in doing solos that seem to grow organically from the emotional tone of a song, that emerge from the core of the song and seamlessly blend back into it.
Consider, for example, their most well-known song, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper." It wouldn't be the same song without the haunting, heart-stopping guitar solo. To see him play live, you come to understand that a solo like this comes as naturally and easily to him as doodling.
Speaking of "(Don't Fear) The Reaper," i was amused to see that the band included a couple of nods to the famous "more cowbell" SNL sketch in their performance of the song -- such as having the roadie who plays the cowbell front and center for part of the song.
On Saturday i dragged my sweeties out to see the remake of "The Day the Earth Stood Still," which generated a lot of interesting discussion. There are numerous things i could say about it good and bad, but i'll just say that we found it entertaining and watchable enough, and i was pleased to see a new addition to the short list of SF movies where the heroes are smart people -- something i've learned to watch for since![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lady_babalon pointed out to me how often SF film reflects a deep-seated cultural mistrust of smart people.
We had dinner out and my birthday celebrations also included some lovely quality time with a couple of my sweeties. *grins*
I took Friday off, as a bit of a gift to myself -- and i actually went out (*gasp*!) I learned Thursday afternoon that Blue Oyster Cult would be playing in the area Friday night, and they have been one of my favorite bands forever. (So, an excuse to use my BOC icon.) Tickets were cheap, so i didn't wrestle with myself long over this decision.
They put on a great show. To be honest i am not, in general, a fan of "heavy metal virtuoso" music. I do enjoy hearing the work of skilled and talented guitarists of course, but to understand my opinion of overblown heavy metal guitar solos, picture Jeffrey Jones as the Austrian Emperor in the movie "Amadeus" telling Mozart that his compositions have "too many notes." They just seem... imbalanced and disconnected somehow. Part of me can't move along with the guitarist from the riff to the screaming thousand-notes-a-second solo. Which is really where my appreciation for Buck Dharma takes off, because his genius as a guitar virtuoso is in doing solos that seem to grow organically from the emotional tone of a song, that emerge from the core of the song and seamlessly blend back into it.
Consider, for example, their most well-known song, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper." It wouldn't be the same song without the haunting, heart-stopping guitar solo. To see him play live, you come to understand that a solo like this comes as naturally and easily to him as doodling.
Speaking of "(Don't Fear) The Reaper," i was amused to see that the band included a couple of nods to the famous "more cowbell" SNL sketch in their performance of the song -- such as having the roadie who plays the cowbell front and center for part of the song.
On Saturday i dragged my sweeties out to see the remake of "The Day the Earth Stood Still," which generated a lot of interesting discussion. There are numerous things i could say about it good and bad, but i'll just say that we found it entertaining and watchable enough, and i was pleased to see a new addition to the short list of SF movies where the heroes are smart people -- something i've learned to watch for since
lady_babalon pointed out to me how often SF film reflects a deep-seated cultural mistrust of smart people.We had dinner out and my birthday celebrations also included some lovely quality time with a couple of my sweeties. *grins*
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glad you had a happy.
Oh ... I am so jealous!
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Sorry I am so terrible with remembering dates. Glad to hear you had a nice time.
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