From the ceiling, my coffee cup drips

So I a while ago I went and saw Steven Page, which was amazing. Fantastic show - so intimate and incredible. One of the songs he (and Craig Northey) performed was Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel. I mentioned in that post how much better this acoustic version was compared to the Barenaked Ladies studio version. But it wasn't until just the last few weeks that I've come to realize how incredible that song is. The lyrics are so mind-blowing - surreal, casual, twisted, dramatic, riveting, detached... And freaking genius. The way that the common refrain completely and utterly changes meaning for the very last verse blows me away. Truly fantastic and touching. I still stand behind the live/acoustic performance being better musically and thematically. But I had no idea what I was missing out on when I was sitting there listening to it in person. This is so totally maddening - I want to go back two months to that hazy, stupid pub so that I can experience it again. I really didn't know or appreciate the genius and emotional appeal of the piece while I was there. This is such a frustrating feeling, to realize what you saw and how much of it you didn't take in because you just didn't know. Argh, take me back, take me back. Let me be there and hear it one more time.

I saw a Coldplay concert a couple weeks ago. Absolutely mind-blowing experience, in extreme opposite to Steven Page. Instead of being deeply personal and intimate, it was being a part of something HUGE. Getting to be intertwined with an entire stadium of different people for every walk of life. Let me rewind - at the door for this sold-out show, they had BARRELS of these fabric and plastic bracelets that they handed out to each participant. No one knew what they were for until the show started. They had lights in the band, and lit up and blinked with the music. And when you're in a packed stadium, with the lights off and every person wearing one... It's like you were standing in the middle of a star field, with the cosmos wrapped around you, in every direction. And every star is a person. A person that sang along with the music - everyone in unison. The Scientist. Oh, The Scientist. There were other things too - inflatable balls passed around the stadium, lasers, lights, confetti, an acoustic encore from the opposite end of the stadium... It was all there. A great experience, and a feast of light and sound. But I tell you, between those bracelets and every other song becoming an anthem for each soul to participate with... It really made me feel like something huge and beautiful. Knock Coldplay all you want - I know they're one of those bands that it's cool to hate. But I think they're talented musicians and write some powerful songs. And if you ever, ever get the chance to see them live, do not pass it up. I don't care what they'll be performing. If I have the opportunity to go, I couldn't possibly think twice.

I finally finished watching Ashes to Ashes (and therefore Life on Mars), a BBC miniseries. I started it about 3 years ago, and stopped once I started school. And I gotta say... It had a wildly satisfying ending to it. I'm really really pleased with how it took such a weird initial premise and tied everything together and brought it to a conclusion. I think that some of the secondary characters could've used a bit more work to hint at their backgrounds instead of just during the last series, but aside from that I have no complaints. Just praise. I was so happy with how it winded up, and cannot recommend Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes enough. Probably one of my favourite series of all time.





Right now, I have two big things I'm trying to make sense of. First, a co-worker is offering me his camera setup - a Canon 40D, Sigma f2.8 24-70mm macro lens, and a Canon f4.0 70-200mm L telephoto lens. He's asking $1400 for the whole deal (including a carrying case, extra batteries, and a few other odds and ends). No two ways about it - it's a reasonable price. And I've played with it over the weekend, and had a REALLY good time. Still, as reasonable as it is... It's still $1400. Do I need this thing? No. And I still have one last year of school left, so I should be watching my spending. But I wants it. It'd be so nice to have, and I wouldn't need anything else for a looong time. Argh.

And this, naturally, rolls into my second conundrum - vacation (?!). Aside from a few days at Christmas, I don't think I've taken a multiple-day vacation since, uh... 2007? It's kinda pathetic, really. But vacations require money in order to go places and do things, and I usually bank my vacation days and get paid out for them at the end of the year. And while I'm in school, a few days of income can be a big deal. Not to mention that I went to New York earlier this spring, and that wasn't particularly cheap either. I'm not sure if I would call it "vacation" exactly, but it was still traveling and so forth. That and, you know, I'm having one hell of a time figuring out what I'd do with myself for one of these mythical "vacation" things. Argh. Life is tricky business, I say.

Still, things are going pretty good, I think. It's been a pretty relaxing week. I'm drawing again, gong for walks, playing my mandolin a bit, and watching some TV. There are things I need to do over the summer, which I should really get started on, but for now... I get to exhale.
-Cril

Driving home to be with you
The highway's dividing, the city's in view
As usual, I'm almost on time
You're the last thing that's on my mind
I wish I could tell you the way that I feel
But tonight is the night I fell asleep at the wheel

No commotion, no screaming brakes
Most of it's over before I awake
From the ceiling, my coffee cup drips
While out my window, the horizon does flips
The worst part was hitting the ground -
Not the feeling so much as the sound
Can't help but wonder if all this is real
Cause tonight is the night I fell asleep at the wheel

Rubberneck traffic and passersby
And Slow Motion Walter the fire engine guy
Stand around with their mouths open wide
I heard some idiot ask if someone's inside
With the Jaws of Life they tried and they tried
Nobody here can know how I feel
Cause tonight is the night I fell asleep at the wheel

I guess it's over now
Cause I've never seen so much
Never seen so much, never seen so much
Never seen so much, never seen so much
I guess it's over now
Cause I've never seen so much
Never seen so much, never seen so much
Never seen so much, never seen so much
So much blood

In all the confusion, there's something serene
I'm just a posthumous part of the scene
Now I'm floating above looking in
As the radio blares and wheels spin
I can see my face slump with a grin
And you...you're the last thing on my mind
You're the last thing on my mind
You're the last thing on my mind
You're the last thing on my mind

Steven Page & Craig Northey - Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel