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I think I need more stuff. Out the window is the lovely 101 freeway. I saw my first accident on it today.
Movie Review - Bottle Shock
After a weekend of work, work, and more work, I decided to make my Labor Day as relaxing as possible. I checked out the trailers for movies in my neighborhood, and Bottle Shock was my pick for a light movie that doesn't require much thought.
What a week
Last week was incredibly busy. I was in charge of my company's move (75 people, 23000 sq. ft of space) which pretty much had me work 12 hour days from Monday to Sunday. On top of that, I had to coach 2 soccer practices on Tuesday and Thursday. I'm really glad Labor Day is today.
If for some reason you visit my website and get a warning from Firefox/Google about Malware and virii, don't be alarmed. Just hit ignore and keep on coming. My site is hosted on the same server as many other websites with the same IP address. One of those sites is the culprit for the malware. Mine is clean and safe. Remember to always use Firefox.
Play Creep!!
Last Night I saw Radiohead at the Hollywood Bowl.
I've wanted to see them live forever, and I've missed out on tickets the last 3 times they've been in LA. I actually missed out on them again this time, but my friend Scott came through and I was the lucky recipient of his second ticket. I really suck at Ticketmaster.
I'm a big fan of The Bends, OK Computer, and Kid A. I never kept the albums after those (Amnesiac, Hail to the Thief, In Rainbows) on my playlist very long, but I do realize they're pretty good.
The setlist, as stolen from Variety was:
Reckoner/Optimistic/There There/15 Step/All I Need/Pyramid Song/Weird Fishes/Arpeggi/The Gloaming/Videotape/Talk Show Host/Faust Arp/Tell Me Why*/No Surprises/Jigsaw Falling Into Place/The Bends/The National Anthem/Nude/Bodysnatchers/Encore: House of Cards/Planet Telex/Go Slowly/Fake Plastic Trees/True Love Waits Intro/Everything In Its Right Place** Encore 2: Cymbal Rush/Karma Police/Idioteque
* = Neil Young cover featuring Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke on acoustic guitars
** = Thom sings two minutes of "True Love Waits" on a sustained dark organ before launching into "Everything In Its Right Place"
There were some great moments. Fake Plastic Trees was really good, and gave me goosebumps. Idioteque was an amazing closing performance with a light show unlike any other I've ever seen. Pyramid Song and The Bends were really good too. Talk Show Host was terrific as well and really got the crowd pumped despite not being a hugely popular song. Radiohead had a great mix of their quieter songs and their post-modern stuff. The crowd really enjoyed it, even though it's cool not to show it in L.A. Great night, great venue, great performance.
Here's most of the closer, Idioteque. It was the only song I recorded on my camera.
I have some uninteresting photos here. My camera couldn't capture a close-up of the band.
Music - The Tyde at the Echo
Last night I got to check out my favorite local band for the first time in a long time. The Tyde played at The Echo with Beachwood Sparks and a few other bands. It was weird seeing a Tyde lineup without an organist, but also with 3 guitarists and a tambourine guy.
This one goes out to Keith
I also got a quick picture with lead singer Darren Rademaker. He said 7 songs for the new album are done.


I watched 4 seasons of Battletar Galactica in 10 days
You know when everyone tells you that you'd enjoy something, and it gets hyped up so much you end up not wanting to see what all the fuss is about? That's what happened to me with Battlestar Galactica. The 2004 remake (or re-imagining as the creators call it) of the late 70's series should have been something I was into from the first day it was released. Instead I've waited 4 years later, until the series end to watch all 60-something episodes, plus 2 mini-series specials.
So Much Sport
I must have watched 10 hours of sport yesterday. After waking up and going to the gym, I sat on my couch for about 6 hours straight. I switched between the Olympics, the start of the Bundesliga (GER), and the start of the Premier League (ENG).
I think I started off with an hour of badminton. In someone's backyard, you could never watch for an hour. Watching the top 2 players in the world compete for gold was really exciting.
Then I switched to watching Manchester United, champions of England, struggle against Newcastle United, perennial underachievers of England. I mixed that with a bunch of rowing events.
Then I watched Shalke and Hamburg from the Bundesliga and switched back and forth with Australia vs The Netherlands in field hockey. Towards the end of that 2 hour block, I integrated women's handball into my rotation as Norway played Romania.
Around lunchtime I watched weightlifting, as the heavy men competed in the snatch and clean & jerk. I did some push-ups after watching that event. The guys were lifting the equivalent of large refrigerators over their heads.
Fencing started after that, and I dozed off. Then I woke up and entered my fantasy football draft while watching women's beach volleyball and the 10000 meter run which was unsurprisingly won by Ethiopians and a Kenyan.
It was a great weekend of competition.
NBC gets the gold, for crappy coverage
I was really pumped for the Olympics and I still am somewhat. However, NBC's coverage is aggravating. We have a worldwide sporting event that takes place once every four years, and all I get to see during the weekdays is 2 hours of coverage from 8:00 PM until my bed time at 10:00. Event that coverage is lame. I'll get half an hour of synchronized diving, followed by an hour of beach volleyball, and then topped off with a swim. There are 28 events at the Olympics. Why can I only see 3 a day? Don't even suggest watching online. I use Linux at home which isn't supported by NBC's website.
Furthermore, I was actually excited during the opening weekend when I saw that MSNBC, CNBC, and USA would show the games. I was even more excited when I saw that I got two free channels on DirecTV, Olympic Basketball and Olympic Soccer. HOWEVER, not one of those channels aired an Olympic sport from the hours of 4:30 PM, to 10:00 PM during the week, which is the time I'm home from work. I want to see fencing, ping pong, judo, rowing, shooting, wrestling, fencing, and all the other events. That's what the Olympics is all about! I don't need to see six different fluff pieces about Misty May and Kerri Walsh. I already know they are hot beach volleyball players.
The weekday coverage has really been awful for those of us who have to work. I can't wait to plop down on my couch this weekend and binge on hours of the games. Track & Field starts today, so that will be a great way to start the weekend.
P.S. When NBC posts the "Live" tag onto their West Coast feeds at night, that's wrong. Every "Live" event during the week is 3 hours old. It was only "Live" for the East Coast.
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