Bolt of Blue

I’m still alive. Just haven’t felt like posting. Things are happening… life is moving along but I’m just not very motivated right now. Like I’ve lost a spark or voice that feels natural. I’ve tried to start several posts since my last one. Each one never gets finished. I feel so muddled right now. Tired. Lonely. Stressed. Anxious. So here’s the best I can do at the moment. Some random thoughts that have crept into my head or have filled my thoughts these past few weeks.

• That 70′s Show will end after next year’s season. Sad.
• Money. Lack of money sucks.
• I think I’m finally going to get roped into jury duty.
• Teen Witch is an evil movie. No matter if I have somewhere to go or if I have better things to do, if I’m flipping channels and it’s on, I drop everything.
• Dominic Monaghan is really unattractive. His under bite and weird way his mouth juts out and moves to the side when he talks bugs me. This is pathetic of me, I know.
• My new crush is Matthew Goode. So hot. Go see Chasing Liberty. It will make you smile. Unless you’re a co-co-cold hearted snake.
• The new PP album is radness. It’s such a step up from their previous work and I really adore that it captures the energy they have when live. Their instore at Tower on the 10th was fun. I continue to love Sam. But it was too damn hot out. It’s supposed to be winter right? Bleh. That’s Los Angeles for you. Gorgeous 80 degree weather in the middle of January.
• Since after Christmas I’ve been immersed in the world of the His Dark Materials trilogy. I’ve never been so emotionally invested in a series of novels before. To the point where I would have to put the book down before getting to certain parts, afraid of what might happen, or because I had to calm myself as I sobbed uncontrollably. They simply floored me and made me reflect on life, death, religion, faith, and love. They will sit with me, in my thoughts and heart, for a long time to come.

Feeling tired… a little weird too cause this is my last week with my boyfriend before he heads back to Edmonton for his surgery next week. Not enough time… this summer went far too fast.

This past weekend felt really lazy to me… or rather, I was feeling really lazy despite doing all kinds of things like seeing the Vines twice. OK Go were the openers and they rocked. I really enjoyed their sound. I thought to myself on Friday how they seemed to have a kinda ska influenced Phantom Planet sound and then I found out they are going to open up for Phantom Planet on their small East coast tour this September. Rad. They are signed with Capitol and their new CD comes out September 17. Mental note: Need to purchase.

The Vines were good as well… though I think they were much better on Saturday’s night show then Friday’s. The crowd might have had something to do with that since it actually had a pulse on Saturday. God, Friday’s crowd was awful. Just pathetic. It didn’t help that there were so many VIPs. It was obnoxious. Craig went mad towards the end and trashed the drum kit and himself. He did more damage on Saturday… since it was their last two shows on this tour, it seemed appropriate and well, fitting since Craig is so rock star. It was, overall, fun. Even when Craig took off his shirt to reveal his pot belly late into the set on Saturday. I so didn’t need to see his paunch. But whatever, it was great and very much like the first time I saw them… raw, real and weird. I loved it.

My boy is painting today… we did a little preparing yesterday of my spare bedroom. I’ve always had white or neutral walls in my bedroom or in my parent’s house for the most part. But my spare bedroom is going to be this khaki color with a pure white ceiling, door and trim. I think it’s going to work really well. I’m just a little nervous since it’s more striking than say, off-white. And then my bedroom… taking more risk there. Remi is going to start getting it all ready tomorrow and it’s going to be this like dark, bright, rich blue. I have no idea how to describe this color. But it’s really dramatic and strong. The ceiling, door, trim and bathroom will be pure white. I hope I like how it turns out and that I can live with such a strong color in my bedroom but I think I’m going to love it… it’s a needed change from the current white and pink that the previous owners had painted the room.

I got a plant yesterday too. It’s this big beautiful plant. Um. Yeah. I love house plants. I still haven’t moved over my plants from my parent’s house yet because there are boxes everywhere and it’s just not ready for all of them… I have some plants that I’ve had for like 6 years. My mom is like this wizard with plants. She has some that she’s kept going for over 20 years. I’m glad I’ve inherited some of her skills.

Oh, totally forgot one thing. After both Vines shows, Sunset was packed with all kinds of people handing out flyers, CDs and pins… there were Capitol PR packets to self-made CDs. I must plug the Otter Pop boys. They had this cooler set-up right in front of the Roxy, handing out Otter Pops and even opening them for you with a pair of scissors. It was so awesome since the Roxy is like a freaking steam room or something, it gets so unbearably hot. I got one of their CDs that just had info written on it with a Sharpie. And it’s really GOOD. So check them out at ariadecline.com. They are playing August 14th at the Roxy and September 21 at the Whiskey. So support ‘em cause Otter Pops rule!

So I’m back… and I hate it. I hate being in this city I normally adore. Cause I’ve left so much of myself back in Vancouver. Trying to throw myself back into work. And I have plenty to keep me busy.

Yesterday I managed to go to two instores in one night… The Roswell cast did an instore with Sensefield performing. Got my Roswell soundtrack signed by Shiri, Adam, Nick, Majandra and Brendan. It was sort of weird… I was the very first person in line thanks to Sue who is a pro and knew where to stand when she got there. I didn’t really know what to say to any of them and I wasn’t nervous or anything. When I saw Nick, I felt like blurting out the Viper Room story but otherwise, I just said lots of ‘hi’, ‘thanks’, ‘nice to meet you’. Lame. It turned out to be a crazy fun night but I just felt off… I had fun but I felt like I was going through the motions. I wasn’t all there. Erica wanted to track down Sensefield after and we did. They were very nice guys.

Then we bolted and went to Aron’s to the Phantom Planet instore. We get there, walk into the parking lot and ended up having a great spot by the side of the stage. Lots of usual ‘people’ were there and some unusual… Rooney boys, Johnny Knoxville, Perry Farrell. The set was a blast… though the crowd was pretty lame. Only the usual hardcore suspects showed the love. Sam kicked some major bass ass. During whole songs, I just concentrated on his brilliant playing. Alex gave a great vocal performance. Giving a lot and then at the end, he climbed up on this lighting rig ala Damon Albarn. Though, this was a temp stage so I was feeling a little scared for the boy. He said he got a little electrocuted by it when I asked him if he enjoyed that later. It was weird to go through the actual signing part afterwards. I wasn’t all that into it since I’d rather talk to them afterwards. Joked around with Darren… and Jason went nuts and did a self-portrait for me when he signed my CD booklet. Crazy kid.

The night ended at one of my favorite restaurants all because of the amazing Chinese shrimp salad… and then driving home, calling my boy, and curling up in bed all alone and miserable. La la la la.

Song of the moment: One Ray of Sunlight, Phantom Planet

There’s some hope that Roswell is not going to be cancelled since no official statement will happen until May. I so enjoyed last night’s episode. Michael/Brendan with short hair! Man! And Max is always more fun when he’s not being typical Max.

Alright so the Phantom Planet show was so much fun. Of course. It was great to see them again. They seemed tired. But since they were in Chicago the day before and were headed to New York the next day, I don’t blame them. So ate yummy food (chinese shrimp salad). David Spade was sitting in a table near us. Very odd to hear his voice having a normal conversation with his friends. As we left the Rainbow Bar to get our will call tickets, Eddie sees someone in the patio stand up from his table and totally start waving to us. He realizes it’s Darren so he tells me and I go over and look over the wall of the patio and he’s still standing up. There’s a whole table of people he’s with… some of the Phantom guys, friends, etc… so I wave back to him.

When we walked into the Roxy, we showed our ids and the bouncer was all, yeah! You guys are numbers 5 and 6 who are getting stamped out of 160 so far! Woah!

The first opening band was The Skirts. They had done 2 songs at the fan club show. A Rooney boy joined them and when he’s the best one in the band and not even a member of the band, that’s saying something but I give them credit for going up there in front of so many people. That does take guts. Two of the girls though ended up standing right near us during PP and were being SO annoying. Whatever. Adam Duritz was in the crowd watching them. I think they did like 3 or 4 songs including a These Boots Are Made for Walking cover. Rilo Kiley was cool. I’ve only seen them one other time. It was nice to see them again. Alex came out to see some of their set. He was wearing this funky hat, covering up his shaggy hair. I liked it… Darren’s hair doesn’t seem to grow as much as Sam and Alex (they made a pact not to cut their hair until their album is released – still a month to go).

Phantom’s set was not as long as I would have liked… they actually played more songs then they intended too. Alex climbed up on these speakers during the last song. Very Damon Albarn rock star behavior. Alex claimed he was worried that no one would show up since as of that day only like 70 tickets had been sold but it ended up being sold out in the end. And he thanked everyone for coming out especially on a school night. HAHA!

Afterwards, Eddie left with Sue and Erica to meet up with Candice at Virgin. She was waiting in the freezing cold to try and get tickets for the $2 Strokes show. I stayed to check out the merchandise and then saw Jacques come out… and Jason and Sam and Darren. So I make my way to Darren and grab his attention. Poor boy was all sweaty since the Roxy is like a sauna. He gave me a hug and we chatted for a bit. He asked where Eddie was and I said how he went to try and get Strokes tickets and Darren was quite envious (though he had no reason to since we didn’t end up getting tickets). He said how tired he was, how he was jet lagged… how they were going to New York the next day, etc… I forgot to wish him luck on Letterman. But I told him to take care and how great it was to see them doing so well and gave him another hug as we said goodbye. I then found Jason and was going to talk to him really quick. Just as I was about to go up to him, Sofia Coppola and some other people come up to him. So I didn’t bother. I left and saw Sam outside but he was surrounded so I just left.

Went to Virgin. It was so cold. We didn’t stay long since there was no point. And that was that.

And now I’m stressing about money. And my lack of money. And why I can’t seem to pay off my credit cards and how I shouldn’t use them. Like ever! Sigh…

Oh… and who’s the coolest Starsailor fan in New York City? Laura, of course, who worked her magic and got into last night’s show. She rocks! I still haven’t posted my story about the Starsailor gig with the Charlatans that I went to. It was incredible. Pete Yorn was there. My friends had a priceless conversation with him… I got a set list cause Starsailor’s roadies are so nice and I had it rolled up in my hand. So I swatted Pete in the arm with it to get his attention and told him he was great on drums with Phantom Planet the previous week and he was taken aback and thanked me. That man is very nice. We got handshakes and quick hellos, etc. from Barry, James and Foxy (the other James) as they left during the last part of the Charlatans set (we had gone outside to the backstage entrance). And we then had a hilarious conversation with Ben, the drummer, who seemed to forget for about 15 minutes that his bandmates were waiting in a van for him. He burned his hand with his cigarette. Signed stuff for us. Told us James has a boyfriend by accident (he has a girlfriend). Found out he’s been to Disney World 3 times. He loves the weather in California. And was altogether charming, giving us kisses on the cheek (handshake for Eddie) as he left. Ben is the best! So that’s it in a nutshell.

First, Starsailor was awesome. Great music… great singing. The opening band The Actual Tigers were pretty impressive too. We were first in line… the first ones there for like an hour. Saw Starsailor arrive in a freaking taxi! It was so cute! Three were sitting in the back and one was sitting in the front.

I guess there were a lot of industry people there but I didn’t notice. I was up front and took lots of photos and soaked in the wonderful music. James gave Eddie and me a huge smile at one point. I smiled back and he smiled even more. It was very cute.

James is so soft spoken. So shy and sweet. Comes off as young and a bit insecure but he is so talented and endearing. They did a long set of about 16 songs. It was great.

Last night went and saw Phantom Planet. We eat and drank a bit before and then walked around. We went to where the bands enter and leave and as soon as we walk over to the entrance, we see Jacques and Sam. We got nervous but this night we vowed to at least talk to one of the guys and not just say, nice show. We were going to break the ice, for our benefit more than theirs of course.

So back to the stage we went. It was great that Phantom was going to go on first. The crowd started to form and geez louise, what some people are willing to do for a free t-shirt! This announcer dude went on for like an hour handing out cds and t-shirts. He was so annoying. At one point he tried to talk to me but I gave him such attitude cause I just wanted to see Phantom and I was so sick of hearing this guy. He said the same thing over and over. Once the boys came out though, it was all better.

We stood right in front of Jacques. They sounded great and seemed to be enjoying themselves. I think they wanted to play more but weren’t allowed too. They rocked. Got lots of awesome photos I hope. They even played a little Radiohead which was rad.

So then we make our way to the side of the stage. And that’s when the mayhem started. Well, I guess it wasn’t that crazy. But all the times we’ve seen the guys and could have easily talked to them, they have been relatively alone or with very few people around. Not this time. Everyone and their mother was trying to get their autographs.

The first thing we did was find Selma Blair. Eddie found out his friend in Boston, also named Eddie, was a huge Selma fan. We see her all the time at Phantom shows so Eddie wanted to get her autograph to surprise his friend. But he was being kinda chicken. Selma was signing autographs and posing with fans so I grabbed a dollar bill and a pen and got myself next to her. By the way, she is so freaking skinny it’s a little scary. So she turned towards me and I tell her that my friend Eddie in Boston is a huge fan and I would love to surprise him with an autograph. I apologized that all I have is a dollar bill. We ended up talking for like 5 minutes. She was super sweet. I told her how I see her at shows all the time and I hoped she didn’t mind me coming up to her finally. She said I must be a huge Phantom fan and I said of course. Then she said, well, then let me give you Jason’s drumstick which she had been holding. She whips it out and was joking how I was probably not a fan of hers and wouldn’t care but she signed the stick anyways. She asked for my name and I told her how to spell it. She wrote on the stick: Alyse, love Selma and Phantom P. — I think. I can’t remember now what’s on the stick and I don’t have it in front of me. I was sort of shocked that she gave me the stick like that out of all the people there and who had already come up to her. I told her to take care and enjoy the rest of her night and said the same back to me. She was pretty darn groovy. Just a regular gal.

After that I noticed Sam signing stuff for people and taking pictures and Alex doing the same. I got nervous and tried to decide what to do… which ended up being hanging back from the crowd and letting it thin out. Jacques came out of the little baricade area and chatted with fans… posing with a stuffed animal (I think it was this monkey) that someone gave him. I got more nervous when Sam came out right by us and then Eddie called out his name as he was turning to leave and got his attention. He basically asked if I could take a picture with him and said yeah sure. He put his arm around me and I think I did the same to him. I noticed he smelled SO good. Eddie had a little trouble with my camera (which at that point was running low on batteries)… so I said out loud, come on, hurry up… I think Sam laughed. After that, I told him how great the show was and he thanked me and I jetted cause I’m a wimp. Then we found Alex. It looked like he really wanted to leave the baricade area. He noticed us and we called out to him to ask if he would take a picture with Eddie and he said sure but that he had to leave after this — he was saying it more to the other people around there then to us. We told him they put on a great show and he said thanks and that was it with Alex.

So then we walk over to where Jacques was hanging out. Two girls (that we later introduced ourselves too) started talking to him about CMJ. They had never seen Phantom before that night but were going to CMJ so they were asking him about it. I kinda pulled myself into the conversation talking about CMJ to one of the girls.

Then Jacques was alone so we went up to him and started chatting. Told him how great the show was (broken record I know) and then finally told him about how we had seen Phantom way back when at the Mayan. He was like where? Then he remembered and joked how there was like 5 people there. We said how we were there for John Taylor and then saw Phantom. Eddie said how Phantom had won us over and how we had been fans since. Jacques was like wow, how cool, thanks. I told him how they just keep getting better and better. I also wished him luck in New York. He was so sweet and so nice and very grateful to. He really listened to us. At one point when I first brought up the Mayan show, some guy came over and reached out to say hello. Jacques turned and said a few things to him. I guess he was a friend or something. I felt like we should let him go… but then he turned back and started up the conversation again.

I can’t wait to see them again. I’m bummed they aren’t doing the Key Club show. And I keep finding conflicting info on what shows they are doing for the American Hi-Fi tour. I really pray they do the Travis show that I have a pit ticket for. They are going to open for Travis at the San Fran show and Eddie and I are tempted. What would be freaking really rad is if they play at like the HOB or the Joint in Vegas. Oh man…

Radiohead was amazing. The crowd was pretty lame. Too many potsmokers. It was gross. They did two encores and then the crowd was able to get Thom to come back out for one last song. He performed alone with just a guitar, saying that we were stuck with only him since the rest of the band was off getting drunk backstage. Thom didn’t talk too much but he made a crack about how we liked New York since they have water and power. The crowd booed him which was pretty cool. He played with the camera at one point and the crowd went nuts. The music these five guys make is incredible and the encores where awesome. And it was so rad when Thom came back out for a third one. By then Eddie and I had moved our way up like 15 rows and were standing right near Jacques from Phantom Planet…. and on that note….

We freaked a bit before the show. We were scanning the audience for JT who we never saw so who knows if he was even there. And instead found 4 of the Phantom Planet boys sitting in the same section as we were. Eddie saw Jacques first standing up and was like, is that Jacques? He went down to check it out and found Jacques, Alex, Darren and Jason. No Sam unfortunately. People were going up to them saying hi and taking pictures but I just didn’t have the guts. I didn’t want to bother them. I kicked myself after the show since they were in their row hanging out for a good 5 to 10 minutes after the last encore. But we were busy on our mission to find JT. We made it down to the pit but didn’t find him… found Neil Finn of Crowded House instead. Walked right by him.

By the time we went back to see if the Phantom boys were still there, they were gone. So we made our way out of the Bowl trying to figure out where to go next. And all of sudden Jared Leto walks right by us. We looked each other straight in the eye for a very long second. He was looking very hippish and grungy but still looking gorgeous. So Eddie and I make our way behind the bowl and to the band entrance area on the other side.

We see Alicia Silverstone next and then I got a little excited cause I saw Colin Hanks. He was so cute. He had on these glasses and was dressed really cute. I didn’t have the nerve to say anything to him and he was with friends and it just wasn’t the place in my opinion. But we ended up leaving that area at the same time as he did and so I ended up by accident walking beside him for a little bit and then he was right in front of me and I could hear him chatting with his friend. He light up a cigarette. Didn’t know he smoked. A group of us walked down the hill for a ways and then Colin went off in a different direction.

So we walk further down the hill to where the after party is and I made my way through this group of people and Jared Leto almost runs right into me. I dodge out of the way as he takes off and pass Cameron Diaz and Bencio Del Toro. We go to sit on this little fence and proceed to watch Jared come back and Bencio, Cameron and Jared then finding their limo and getting in while saying goodbye to their friends.

As if that wasn’t enough, before we get up to leave, Tom Green and Drew Barrymore pass by to get to their car. It was a night of star spotting that’s for sure. I am sure there were a lot of other people there. It was that type of show. It didn’t feel like the crowd was filled with die hard Radiohead fans but rather people who wanted to go to the show just so they could say they went and appear hip. Whatever. It’s all about the music people and that’s why I was there. Our little star gazing adventure afterwards stemmed from our mission to find John Taylor. All in all it was a fun night.

Last night I saw Phantom Planet at the Troubadour. They rocked. Played more songs than they intended to but they appreciated the loving from the crowd. Eddie and I realized that the crowds at Phantom shows don’t really rock out that much though. I guess it’s just us and a few people here and there. But we don’t care. Stood right in front of Sam. Right before he needed to sing back up, he moved his mike stand to be right in front of me. Then gave me this really big sweet smile as we made eye contact.

We got there so early cause we weren’t sure if we would be able to get in. It wasn’t a problem at all. Saw the guys plenty as they went in and out for their soundcheck and gear. Jason looked like a wreck. He’d been sick or something. I helped him get back into the Troubadour by knocking on the windows since no one was answering the door. He is a super sweet guy. When Sam walked by us at one point, he sort of looked up from the ground, made eye contact with me and said, ‘Hey guys,’ before looking back down at the ground and getting into the Troubadour. I said ‘hello’ before walking to get some sushi.

When Alex left with some guy and Jenny Lewis (I only think of Troop Beverly Hills and not Rilo Kiley, that a lot of the Phantom fans follow as well), he drove his car by us. 3 friendly fans (only got Brett’s name) were the first in line. We were second. Only this girl was there since the other two went to move their car or something. So it was just three of us sitting on the sidewalk. As Alex drove by, he looked over and gave us a big wave. It was sweet.

After the show, Eddie and I made our way to the bar area to finally pick up a membership packet and the b-sides cd. Had to walk by Sam. I told Eddie I think he is a cross between John Taylor and Nick Rhodes. Sigh… so maybe it was the lighting but I swear I kept making eye contact with Sam. And that was it. The membership packet is very cool. Now I have to send in my picture for the corny membership card. Can’t wait to get it.

Let me see, anything else? Up in the balcony it was fun to watch the guys getting ready and looking down at the show and Sam stressing over the computer hooked up to a projector. He is such a computer nerd. Love him! Jason helped Sam stretch which I found funny since Jason is like half of Sam’s height. Oh, they sort of messed up the encore but it worked out. They did do one. Played ‘Surrender’ and ‘Sabotage’. Alex threw a bag of tostitos into the crowd randomly since Jason brought them onto the stage. Got a little offended when this young gal behind me asked her friend after the show ended what song ‘Sabotage’ was. How could she not know? Ahhh!!! Starting to feel really old… and my birthday is in… 9 days… oh man.

So I met Joe. I met freaking Joe McIntyre. Finally. After all these years. I was so nervous. I was shaking all over but managed to talk to him pretty calmly. Told him right off how this was a long time in coming as I shook his hand. It was completely crazy when I bent down to tell him my name… he was inches away and we looked each other straight in the eyes for a long couple of seconds. Unreal. He has the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. We posed for a picture together but I was shaking so much I couldn’t hold my smile so I’ll probably look like an idiot. What else is new? Then when I went to kiss him on the cheek, he moved in more than I was expecting for this weird kinda hug and I ended up lightly kissing his ear. Oops…

The show at the Roxy was splendid. I had so much fun. Saw Donnie Wahlberg come out of his limo before the show. He was looking great. And it was cool he was there for Joe like that. Very cool. Uncool was seeing Amaya from the Real World Hawaii trying to get into the backstage area. She is so yucky. I don’t think she managed to get in but oh well. Also saw Dawson’s mom. That was randomly funny.

Ok so it’s this Saturday that I’m going to be trying to get Radiohead tickets. After seeing Missing Persons, we are heading over to the Hollywood Bowl and hopefully we will get some decent seats.

Seeing Missing Persons tomorrow night as well as Friday night. It will be good to see Warren again although maybe a little strange at first. And then next week, we are going to try… no we ARE going to see Phantom Planet at the Troubadour. I’ve come to realize I am a Phantom Planet band-aid. I’m not ashamed. I love them.