goodbye, goodnight

In case you couldn't tell, I like to go to concerts. Being the data geek that I am, I decided I wanted to write down all of the bands I have seen (at least the ones I can remember) and the number of times I have seen them. To complicate matters further, I thought it would be fun to categorized them by my desire to see them in concert again.

Bands I Have Seen in Concert
Would I See Them Again?
Yes
A Silent Film*## 3 Barcelona*##** 5 Civil Twilight*## 3 Collective Soul###### 6 Crash Kings* 1 Foo Fighters O 1 Foster the People# 1 Gold Fields* 1 Imagine Dragons# 1 Locksley* 1 Mae### 3 Mika# 1 Muse# 1 MuteMath# 1 Royal Teeth* 1 Snow Patrol# 1 The Black Keys# 1 U2## 2 Windsor Drive*# 2 Young the Giant# 1
If the Tickets Are Cheap
Andrew McMahon^ 1 Barenaked Ladies O 1 Bon Jovi# 1 Dave Matthews Band# 1 Deas Vail* 1 Kings of Leon# 1 Lifehouse O 1
If the Tickets Are Free and I Don't Have Anything Else to Do
Anberlin^ 1 Arctic Monkies* 1 Blue October^ 1 Ed Sheernan* 1 Grouplove* 1 Lady Danville* 1 Modest Mouse# 1 Mumford and Sons# 1 No Doubt* 1 Relient K# 1 Ryan Shupe## 2 Silversun Pickups* 1 The Format# 1 The Fray#* 2 Train# 1

Nah

Bob Schneider# 1 Chain Gang of 1974* 1 Creed O 1 Fastball* 1 Low Millions* 1 Owl City* 1
Not Even If You Payed Me
He is We* 1

#Headliner
*Opener
^Headliner but I was there for the opener(s)
O 2002 Olympic Medal Plaza because I was a volunteer

Notes:
1. Openers are only included if they were memorable (good or bad) enough that I recall the name
2. There are probably some concerts I have attended that I can't remember

Sources: Effie's Brain, Facebook, iPhoto Library

The last category probably needs a short explanation. The band He is We opened for one of my favorites, Barcelona. Their first strike came when they took 45 mins to get set up, the second was their arrogant attitude, and the third was they were not nearly as talented as they imagined themselves to be.

good morning after all

According to my Instagram feed it seem like the only things I do are go to concerts and go skiing. While that's not all I do, these two activities are some of very favorite and are usually the most picture worthy. This ski season has given me some of my favorite ski days. I got a new pair of skis for Christmas and I have absolutely loved them. With my old pair of skis I had a difficult time skiing in powder, but now I crave floating through the pristine snow. I love looking down a run and see a field of white ready for me to make tracks. It was days like that that made it worth getting up at 7:00 am on a Saturday. The ski season is pretty much over (praying for one more powder day), but I had some amazing days and no regrets.

Bluebird day at Brighton

View into Park City from Brighton

Blue skies at Alta

Freezing cold day at Snowbasin, but with 20" of new snow I didn't mind

Did you see the sky today? Talk about blue.

The Orange Bubble at the Canyons. Heated seats on a ski lift are nice.

goodbye

No, I'm not actually going anywhere.  I realized that it has been nearly a year since I posted anything on my blog and thought it was like I had said goodbye to the three people who actually read what I write.  I guess that just goes to show how incredibly dull the past year has been.  Maybe that's not entirely true.  I actually did plenty of fun things during 2011, but I just wasn't motivated enough to write about them.

Well, new year, fresh start.

One of my favorite things in the world is going to concerts, and I have several in the coming months that I'm really excited about.

The first is MuteMath on February 14, yep, Valentine's Day.  This is actually a welcome happenstance, because now I don't have to sit at home watching TV or a movie, pretending I'm ok that I don't have a date on Valentine's Day.  I actually get to go to a concert, something that makes me incredibly happy, with my roommate and two other people who we have coerced into coming with us.  MuteMath is a band I discovered when their song "Typical" came up on my Pandora station and now they are one of my favorites.  This will be my first time seeing them live.  I was planning on seeing them a few years ago when they opened for another band, but my concert buddy (aka my roommate) was sick that night and since I hadn't already bought tickets I missed out.




The next concert is Snow Patrol at the end of April.  I haven't seen them in concert before and I'm extra excited to see them in a small venue.  This is a band that usually plays in arenas or at big outdoor festivals.  I can't wait to hear them live, even if it is true that Gary Lightbody has a potty mouth.




The last concert (well at least the last of the three I currently have tickets for) is The Black Keys.  I started listening the The Black Keys fairly recently.  I had heard "Howlin' for You" and "Tighten Up" on the radio before, but hadn't bothered to look up more of their songs.  When "Lonely Boy" made its way to my ears, I listened up and now I absolutely dig these guys.  I'm a little disappointed that the concert is at the Maverick Center, but I have a feeling I'll enjoy it despite the less than stellar venue.

good woman down

Last Friday I went skiing by myself for the first time and I have to say it was one of the best ski days I have ever had.  I have been complaining for a while that I didn’t have anyone to go skiing with on my Friday’s off.  I was a little skeptical when my roommate told me I should just go by myself.  I’m normally ok with going places and doing things by myself, but the thought of skiing alone had me a little scared.  What if I crashed and hurt myself on a run and no one found me?  What if some psycho sat next to me on the lift?  What if I slid off the road into a ditch and no one could see me?  She said I would be fine.  She also said she used to do it all the time when learning how to snowboard and that it was the best. 

Friday morning I packed up my car and headed to Powder Mountain (they had the best deal I could find on short notice and I just like the resort).  I got there about 9:30 and the place was empty.  I think that is what I like about Powder, it isn’t crowded with out-of-towners.  It is more of a hidden treasure for locals and visitors in the know.  My first couple of runs I was completely alone, I didn’t pass anyone and no one passed me. 

On my fourth run my first fear happened.  I was cruising down a blue and not really concentrating on my technique when I caught an edge and was propelled forward.  My skis popped off as I was sliding face first down the steep slope.  When I finally stopped, I saw that my poles were still around my wrists but my skis stopped quite a ways up the slope.  I laid there for a little bit, trying to catch my breath after having it knock out of me.  As I pushed myself up, I realized that when I tried to brace myself during the fall I totally pulled something in my left shoulder.  I was not happy about that because I had been skiing for less than an hour.  I had to tell myself that I wasn’t hurt because there was no way I was going to waste a whole day.  The pep talk did me good and clicked back into my skis and continued on my merry way.

The remainder of my solo ski day was fantastic.  I met quite a few people on the lifts and skied some runs with a couple of them.  I even saw Ed Roland, lead singer of my favorite band (or a guy who looks a lot like him, I couldn’t tell).  I skied until I could ski no more (because they were shutting down the lifts).  On the way home I realized that my shoulder definitely was hurt, I had a hard time lifting it, but I’m so glad it didn’t hinder my most excellent day.

eat that up, it's good for you

I like sandwiches.  Often my lunch at work is a sandwich.  I do not like pre-made sandwiches that have been sitting in the fridge for hours, which is the reason I bring all the ingredients for a sandwich to work and make it fresh.  I have been doing this for years.

When I first started, I tended to buy cheap bread and cheap turkey and then would complain to myself that the sandwiches I made never tasted as good as the ones I get at a restaurant.  Being a thinker, I thought about why my sandwiches sucked and I came to the conclusion that it wasn't the sandwich's fault. The sandwich was only as good as the stuff that made it and that stuff was cheap crap.

The solution to this terrible problem was simple, buy good stuff to make good sandwiches.  Now, I would say my sandwiches are awesome!  Ciabatta bread, roasted turkey, swiss, bell peppers, romaine lettuce, mayo, mustard, and maybe an avocado.  If I ever need to make a few bucks on the side I could sell my sandwiches to my coworkers.

Good Directions Life Lesson:  Life is too short to eat cheap crap turkey.
 

good day sunshine

With piles of snow on the ground, I thought it would be a good time to remember my trip to Hawaii. Warmth and sunshine sound good right about now, but maybe a day skiing down a mountain will cure me of my winter blues.

The waterfall where scenes from Lost were filmed

 

feel good drag

I like going to concerts. I especially like going to concerts by up-and-coming bands at small venues. I like to concerts best of all when I'm able to get my picture taken with one or more band members. It makes me kind of giddy. This happened a few weeks ago with two bands, Civil Twilight and Crash Kings. Both were the opening acts for Anberlin, and both totally outperformed the headliner. I actually didn't even stay for all of Anberlin's set, I can't stand when bands feel they have to have everything turned up full blast instead of finding the right balance. They were definitely the drag of the night.

The third time was the charm for me to see Civil Twilight. I had attempted to see them two other times, but neither worked out. I was pleased with their set, even if it was a little short, but wish the venue was better. Who ever thought a warehouse with no modification for sound was an idiot.

Crash Kings are amazing live because they play with such energy and enthusiasm. I think I'm a sucker for a three-member band, especially when one of them plays the piano. Who ever created a keyboard with a whammy bar that sounds like a guitar was a genius.

Civil Twilight

Richard Wouters and Steven McKeller from Civil Twilight

Crash Kings

Tony Beliveau from Crash Kings

Mike Beliveau from Crash Kings