This afternoon, I finally got my ass in gear and finished shopping for the gifts that I need to ship. I went to Market Mall again, and didn’t even spend an hour there. In fact, including a stop for a slice of pizza, I think it was less than 45 minutes, and I got done what I needed. I would’ve likely kept going, but at my last stop? They were nice enough to inform me that my overworked Mastercard was out of gas. So to speak.
So I called it quits. I’m not out of cash, but I took that as a sign. Stop. Spending.
You might have noticed (or utterly ignored) the two-day gap in my posting. For some, that’s no big deal. For me, that’s close to unheard of. Normally it’d be due to some unforseen lack of inspiration, but I’ve actually discovered an excellent source of inspiration (and niacin, and riboflavin).
Sadly, Kristin has made the decision to shut down her blog, thanks to the collosal fuckheadity of, well, fuckheads. At least one, anyway. She pulled the plug a few days back, and since my links list is so sparse to begin with, I decided to bring in a pinch hitter. Meet Meg (if you haven’t already from [gasp!] some other site). She looks pretty damn sexy in a Santa hat, so I figured that she’d fit in nicely - it is Christmas, after all.
Christmas is also a time for good karma, so when I found three Aerosmith tickets on the pedestrian overpass by the Roundup Centre Monday night on the way to the concert, there was only one thing to do: I turned them in to security once I got into the ‘Dome. I hope the unfortunate folks who dropped them were able to recover them from the box office - it’d SUCK big time to miss that show.
I know, I haven’t written about it. My inspiration wasn’t of the concert-post kind. But let’s just say that Motley Crue should really quit while they’re… behind. Because their performance Monday night does not put them in the ‘ahead’ category. Too loud. I bought earplugs for the first time in my life because I was seriously concerned for my hearing. Too bright. Lights on the stage firing right into the faces of the audience blinded me. Too smokey. For most of their set, you could barely make out Tommy Lee. It was almost like they were trying to mask their weak effort.
Aerosmith was pretty much the exact opposite. A wide-open stage setup, a catwalk that extended halfway down the floor, and sound that was mixed about as well as it can be in an arena made for the ideal setting for the Joe and Steve show. Sure, Brad and the rest of the rock-solid band back them up like the vets they are, but it’s really Steven Tyler and, to a lesser degree, Joe Perry, that are the stars of the show. And they did star, up and down the catwalk, across the stage, in the spotlight.
Too short. I would’ve liked at least a half an hour less Motley Crue and at least that much more Aerosmith. The Crue played for an hour and fifteen minutes - that was too long considering how poor the sound was. And Vince Neil has apparently forgotten the words to Kickstart My Heart - with the clarity afforded me by my earplugs, I could distinctly hear him singing… jibberish. “Kickstart my heart” became “Kick sty-ay-ay”. Blech.
Steve et al played an hour and a half, and only did a one-song encore. The length - or lack of it - was the only disappointment. OK, maybe they could’ve played a few more hits. Like twenty or so. That’s always the issue when a band whose career spans more than three decades hits the stage: what to play? You can’t please absolutely everyone, but they did a damn fine job as far as I was concerned.
The main reason I went was that I’ve never seen Aerosmith before. I didn’t go for Motley Crue, and it’s a good thing, because if I’d paid more than about $10 for that Crue show, I would’ve been annoyed. OK, maybe $20. They can pack it in anytime and it’d be OK, but judging by the show they put on, they’re not long for the biz. Aerosmith can come back anytime, though. I’d even go see them again.
Oh, and Cheerios are on ‘Buy One, Get One Free’ at Safeway this week.
