Bolt of Blue

Keep meaning to post but haven’t had the energy.

I’ve also been obsessing over One Tree Hill. Uh. Don’t ask.

New Orleans was amazing fun. We stayed at an adorable little hotel in the French Quarter that ended up being a block away from the most gay corner of all New Orleans (St. Ann and Bourbon in case you’re interested.) I felt at home immediately. Just walking the streets and shopping in cute stores… having cafe au lait and beignets every day, being with my pals and having a wonderful time together.

And to top it off. Duran Duran.

Seeing Duran again was… incredible. Definitely one of the best shows of theirs I’ve ever been to. We were right in front. Getting up super early, being first in line, doing a mad dash to the stage, and all the hours of waiting to be in the best spot ever was totally worth it. Especially when the first notes of “Serious” started playing. You can totally hear us in this You Tube clip losing our minds! Of course, all these photographers in front of us noticed and started taking our picture. This is a song we’ve never seen live. And this version… mixed with “Nice”, is just… unbelievably fantastic. They also did a cover of “House of the Rising Sun” for the first and probably only time. Simon was sexy and the vibe of the song was so haunting and lovely. That really should be a b-side. Like now.

I’ve seen Duran Duran an enormous amount of times now. This entire experience though really ranks up there as one of the most special and fun. The guys sounded great and seemed to really be enjoying themselves (sans Andy – don’t even get me started.) I’m so glad we made the trip. And I’d do it all over again if given the chance. Heck, when we were at the airport to head home, we were saying we should just hop on a plane to get to Niagara Falls for the next show but alas… back to the real world.

Electric City

A band that Andy Jr and Roger Jr have formed!

Makes me feel so old. But then at least the age difference between me and Roger Jr is less than the one between me and Roger Sr. Ahem.

Regardless, I like the song they have up on their myspace. It’s pretty darn hot.

I’ve been crazy busy.

Crazy I tell you.

I’ve been meaning to post about my amazing Coachella weekend. I really have.

But work, life, planning out trips, running another art show, etc… just slamming me all over the place at the moment.

And of course, it’s now that I’ve been tackling a major redesign of my biggest site, the JRMfansite. When I say major, I mean MAJOR. I’m learning how to do more stuff with WordPress than ever plus tweaking it myself to get it to behave the way I want. And I’m also importing all that static content into a database format. It’s a serious pain in the butt and is going to take ages. But I’m excited for when it all comes together. Cause it’s going to make my life easier in the end and provide something new for visitors to the site. It’s just… so… much… work. Ugh. Tired.

I’ve also been riding my new bike to work almost every day. In hopes that I’ll get myself into shape, plus Remi has been working late every night cause of an approaching deadline. So yeah.

Duran Duran madness in full effect. Showed up to Staples Center last Saturday with no ticket but ended up with free 7th row center tickets by the time Duran came on stage. Duranie karma is a good thing indeed! We had an amazing time and it was one of the better DD shows I’ve ever been privileged to attend. They played Hold Back the Rain, Tiger Tiger, and The Chauffeur. Plus they showed the anime cartoon during Careless Memories. It was incredible. Jimmy Kimmel on the other hand… we went but they treat most of the regular audience like crap and we could barely see anything. Just thinking about our Staples experience to make up for that disappointment.

Got to go to NPR West for an interview with CBC radio a couple of weeks ago. Very snazzy building. Crazy to sit in a studio with headphones on and asked questions like I’m somebody. It aired last week. I have no idea how lame I sounded since they didn’t archive my interview. Next up is a quote from me in the next Star Wars Insider and I’m featured in some big Reader’s Digest story that will be coming out in May. Just got off the phone with their fact checker.

Sending off the next round of INS paperwork for Remi. It’s going to cost a lot for all the applications but I’ll be relieved once I get to the post office and mail the package off. It’s out of our hands at that point and we just have to wait to hear back from them… and then Remi can start looking for a job.

Oh, the Hot Hot Heat show last Friday was a lot of fun. The crowd was pretty weak but the band was tight (minus Dante but with a great new guitar player) and sounded great. The new songs in particular came off really well. They were taping the show. Probably for DVD footage or something. Morrissey was there. I’m not even really a fan but even my heart started pumping fast when I saw him. And Steve… please, for the love of all things rock, cut your bird’s nest. Now. It’s beyond out of control. Thank you.

New Duran Duran video is out.

As Stephanie said about Simon after she saw the video:

comicgrrl: good god, why is he so hot
comicgrrl: it’s not fair
comicgrrl: he gets hotter every minute he’s alive

Along with Simon… Roger, Nick, JT all look drool worthy in the video. It’s ridiculous. Aging rock stars aren’t supposed to get even more hot as they get older but that’s Duran Duran for you. And there are star versions of them too. Cause well… they are gods.

I’ve been meaning to post… to finish up my adventures with Duran Duran, Ewan McGregor and Interpol. My Vancouver trip too. But every time I try, I get sidetracked. Super dooper busy. No really.

I mean, this week alone is crazy hectic. Tomorrow I’m going to see Empire Strikes Back at the Arclight with Irvin Kershner Q+A afterwards. Wednesday is Sondre Lerche at the Troubadour. Thursday is a meeting with Creation about ORC (see below), Friday I’m seeing Duran Duran at this crappy Christmas radio show in San Diego, Saturday and Sunday is celebrating my friend Autumn’s birthday, and then Monday I’m seeing Duran Duran again at a crappy Christmas radio show but this time in Anahiem. Jimmy!

So I’ve been helping friends with wedding plans, websites, parties, my own wedding plans, Ewok lines, going to movies, and now I’m the Art Show Director for ORC. It should be fun but it’s going to be a lot of work and I’ve never done anything like this before. What do I know about art?

Plus there was Thanksgiving and much baking… and Christmas is coming. And Remi… I’m trying to get my place together into some kind of organized shape. It’s a total mess right now and there’s no way he can move in and have room to do so with how things are right now. Thanksgiving gave me some time to work on things but there’s just so much more to do. And time is ticking.

We’re at the stage now where Remi is just waiting to hear from the embassy in Vancouver about when his visa interview will be. We have all the paperwork ready. Just needs his interview and they will hopefully, if all goes well, give him his visa. And then he can move down here in January. We’re planning a roadtrip to rescue him.

It’s unreal that Remi is going to be here before his birthday on January 15 and we’ll be getting our civil ceremony marriage before February. He’ll be living with me and we’ll be legally married and starting our lives together. Unreal. It’s been such a long road to get to this point and it doesn’t feel like it’s really all happening. And it won’t until I get to hand him his pair of keys to our condo and I touch him and he doesn’t dissolve.

As I sit here trying to contemplate on the potentials of what could happen in the next 4 years, I’ll keep going with my DD adventures and pick up where I left off. The signing.
Continue reading

I realize I have not posted in a while. If you look at my calendar at all, you will see why. CRAZY busy.

So much has gone on in the past two weeks and I must write it down to preserve the memories. Here starts part 1 of my Duran Duran adventures. These adventures quickly turn into Vancouver/Remi/Interpol adventures. They continue tonight when I go see Interpol on Jimmy Kimmel. Watch the show. It’s going to rock. Now on to the madness!

Okay, to set the scene, Virgin Megastore on Sunset Blvd. Whenever there are line-ups, we have to stick to the outside of the building along Sunset. When the line gets too long, it moves to across the street further down Sunset where it snakes close to the Director’s Guild building. They always stay open later on Mondays for Tuesday release day. The 11th was no exception and we knew there would only be 500 wristbands given out when purchasing a copy of Astronaut. Getting a wristband was no guarantee for the signing on the 15th but it was just the first step in making sure we all got in for the signing.

Once we heard that a line had been started for the wristbands, Eddie secured a place in line on his lunch break and waited for reinforcements. Sue arrived and was our hero for the week. I got there around 6pm after work and joined the wait. By then the line had indeed grown. Part of the whole fun is catching up with friends and getting giddy (and ridiculously silly) over the boys and the release of an album we already had a copy of but were going to buy anyway. There was at least the DVD to look forward to.

I was wrapped in my Duran Duran hoodie to combat the increasing cold of the night. Many cars passed by with the requisite questions, honks, and hollers. The usual Duranie drama unfolded. Some fans are snobs, some are the coolest people you’ll ever meet, and some just need to be locked up. Finally, about 5 minutes to midnight, Virgin let us into the store. They were playing Astronaut already and as the anticipation built, everyone was singing and dancing along to Sunrise in this long conga line up. Finally, it was my turn to get my limited edition with the DVD (such gorgeous packaging) and wristband. Phase 1 for Operation DD Signing was over.

Side note: Astronaut hit #17 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart. And it’s #1 on the Top Internet Albums chart! For those who have not picked up their copy yet, what are you waiting for? It’s truly an incredible album and worth a listen even if you’re not diehard like myself.

Part 2 is coming. The signing itself. The life of a hardcore fan is never comfortable when sleeping on sidewalks.